Reporter Wants Info on Alleged Abuser

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A reporter who specializes in concussions in sports sued the Department of Homeland Security for information about an alleged sexual abuser of young athletes. Irvin Muchnick sued the Department of Homeland Security on July 1 in a federal complaint under for the Freedom of Information Act. He seeks documents on the visa application and green card files of George Gibney, an Irish national “who reportedly sexually abused numerous young aquatic athletes in Ireland and other countries but who was granted permission to enter and reside in the United States,” according to the lawsuit. Muchnick’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated and elsewhere. His book “Concussion Inc.: The End of Football as We Know It,” was published in February by ECW Press, a 40-year-old small press based in Toronto. Muchnick also has written journalism and a book on concussions and other health problems in professional wrestling. He says he also has investigated and written about “the many known instances of sexual abuse of young swim athletes by their coaches across the United States, including the various litigations surrounding these scandals, some of which are institutional.” Muchnick says in the complaint that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services responded to his FOIA complaint by telling him it had 102 pages responsive to his request – but released only 4 pages in their entirety. Those pages included a public alert published by AbuseWatch.net, which describes in detail the reported allegations and earlier journalistic investigations of Gibney’s “longstanding pattern” of sexually abusing young people, according to the complaint. The remaining 98 pages were “completely blank,” except for a perfunctory notice of the FOIA exemption the agency claimed. His appeal was denied. He wants to see the record. Neither Muchnick’s attorney, Roy Gordet, of Daly City, Calif., nor the DHS immediately responded to requests for comment Monday. The Irish Independent newspaper reported on Feb. 27, 1998 that Gibney had been charged with 27 counts of unlawful carnal knowledge in Dun Laoghaire District Court. The newspaper said a higher court killed the charges because they were dated and vague. Gibney moved to Scotland and then to the United States, according to the Independent.